The present invention relates to a polyurethane resin, to a coating composition comprising the polyurethane resin, to the use of the polyurethane resin for printing plastic substrates, to a method of producing a polyurethane resin and to a method of producing a laminate carrying a printed image.
Polyurethane resins are the binders of choice in solvent borne coating compositions for plastic films and in the production of image carrying laminates. Laminates are multilayered shaped articles in which—according to the needs of the final article—each of the layers consists either of the same or of different materials. The preferred materials are paper, wood, textiles, metal and plastic films. In the field of food packaging, the laminates are made mostly from plastic or metal films, in particular, metallized films, or a combination of both. Film materials are chosen such that the laminates can be subjected to sterilization processes without deterioriation of the film and/or the laminate. As a further advantage laminates impart to prints or, generally, images a satisfying appearance with respect to gloss and color fastness. Generally, laminates are produced by either joining two or more layers by means of adhesives or by adhesive-free extrusion coating. Irrespective of the production process a print or generally any kind of image which does not necessarily have to be printed can be applied to one or both of the layers prior to applying the next layer (Römpp Lexikon, Lacke und Druckfarben, ed. U. Zorll, Georg Thieme Verlag, Stuttgart, New York 1998, p.214 and 318).
Coating compositions for laminates, which are mainly in the form of printing inks, have to satisfy high standards. The resin as the film forming part of the composition must provide the dried layer with the required adhesive strength both to the underlying substrate and to the adhesive or to the extruded layer. As a further requirement the resin must impart to the dried layer stability during and after sterilization processes and/or treatment in boiling water even over a prolonged period of time (e.g. during food preparation). Further the dried layer must show blocking resistance and stability during sealing of the laminate (e.g. in the production of bags). The composition—as a printing ink—must be printable in flexo and gravure printing processes which are the techniques commonly used for printing plastic films. Thus, the resin must allow the printing ink to be thinly liquid, rapidly drying and to be soluble in esters and in alcohols, in particular in ethanol.
EP-604 890 teaches a printing ink (for printing laminates) based on a polyurethane resin. The polyurethane resin is the reaction product of a high molecular weight polyol compound of a molecular weight in the range of 3000 to 10000, a low molecular weight polyol compound of a molecular weight of less than 200, an organic diisocyanate compound, a chain extender and optionally a reaction terminating agent. The polyol compounds are chosen such that the whole of the high molecular weight polyol compound and the low molecular weight polyol compound has an average molecular weight in the range of 1500 and 2700, the isocyanate index of the diisocyanate being more than 2.0 and the nitrogen content of the polyurethane resin derived from the isocyanate groups of the diisocyanate being from 1.3 to 1.95% by weight. Only standard polyether polyols such as polyethylene glycol are used. Furthermore, the importance of the selected molecular weight range of the polyol component is stressed in that by using a polyol component having a lesser molecular weight an ink having poor adhesiveness and adaptability for boiling or retorting treatment is obtained.
Whereas printed and dried layers produced with the ink of EP-604 890 show in most of the cases the required bond strength, the initial adhesiveness of the layers to the underlying substrate, i.e. the adhesiveness within the first 30 seconds after drying, is poor. A lack of initial adhesiveness results in at least partial transfer of the printed layers to the back side of the substrate/film to which the layer has been applied during storage on rollers or stacks. A further drawback of the prints/layers produced with the ink of EP 604 890 is their lack of heat resistance in particular on coextruded polypropylene and polyester. The latter results in damages on edges of the layers during heat treatment of the laminate. In addition the printing ink shows poor compatibility with alcohols as the solvent of choice in flexographic applications. All these drawbacks are mainly due to lack of performance of the polyurethane resin.